India, Vietnam sign pact on transfer of sentenced prisoners

India and Vietnam signed a treaty for transfer of sentenced prisoners languishing in jails in the two countries

New Delhi: India and Vietnam today signed a treaty for transfer of sentenced prisoners languishing in jails in the two countries.

Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Vietnam Minister of Public Security Tran Dai Quang signed the agreement on transfer of sentenced prisoners at a function here.

The pact will help Indian prisoners imprisoned in Vietnam or vice-versa to be near their families for serving remaining part of their sentence. This would facilitate the process of their social rehabilitation.

Negotiations have also been concluded with Canada, Hong Kong, Brazil and Spain, an official statement said.

These treaties have helped in repatriation of 43 Indian prisoners from Sri Lanka, Mauritius and UK. Similarly, seven prisoners of UK and France were repatriated to their respective countries.

The 7th United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders adopted the Model Agreement on the Transfer of Foreign Prisoners in 1985 and since then many countries have arrived at bilateral and multilateral treaties.

The Repatriation of Prisoners Act, 2003 was enacted for achieving the above purpose. For achieving the objectives of the Act, a treaty is required to be signed with countries having mutual interest on this matter.